7.  The applicant was born in 1977. He is currently being detained in the Belgrade Central Prison.
It would appear that the applicant’s criminal record predates the events complained of, and that he was arrested pursuant to an international arrest warrant in the Netherlands in 2003 for crimes other than those at issue in the present case.
8.  On 5 December 2006 the applicant was arrested and placed in custody in Austria, pursuant to an international arrest warrant.
9.  On 20 December 2006 the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia (Министарство правде Републике Србије; “the Ministry of Justice”) requested the applicant’s extradition for the purpose of conducting several sets of criminal proceedings against him unrelated to the present case.
10.  On 11 January 2007 the investigating judge of the Belgrade District Court (“the District Court”) opened an investigation against the applicant, who was suspected of having participated in aggravated murder with unauthorised use of another person’s vehicle and forgery. The offences had allegedly been committed on 24 March 2006.
11.  On 29 January 2007 the Ministry of Justice extended its extradition request to include the above-mentioned criminal proceedings (see paragraph 10 above), which are the subject of the present case.
12.  In the meantime, on 16 April 2007 the competent court in Austria found the applicant guilty of possession of an unlicensed firearm, which had been found on him at the time of his arrest, and sentenced him to seven months’ imprisonment.
13.  On 6 July 2007 the applicant was extradited to Serbia.
14.  On 31 December 2007 the public prosecutor issued an indictment against the applicant and two other persons, V.S. and B.A, who were at large.
15.  On 7 May 2008 the first hearing was held before the District Court. It was decided that V.S. and B.A. would be tried in absentia.
16.  Subsequently, forty-one hearings were scheduled, of which nineteen were adjourned: four at the request of the applicant’s defence counsel and fifteen for various procedural reasons, such as the absence of the co-accused’s defence counsel, the absence of duly summoned witnesses and/or experts, erroneous delivery of summons, and delays concerning experts’ opinions. Furthermore, the trial had to start anew six times because the presiding judge and/or the composition of the trial chamber changed. From March 2010, following a reform of the domestic judicial system, the Belgrade High Court (“the High Court”) took over the case.
17.  On 1 April 2014 the High Court found the applicant guilty of complicity in aggravated murder, unauthorised use of another person’s vehicle and forgery. It sentenced him to twenty years’ imprisonment.
18.  On 4 and 17 July 2014, respectively, the applicant and the public prosecutor appealed against the High Court judgment.
19.  On 31 October 2014 the Belgrade Court of Appeal (“the Court of Appeal”), quashed the High Court judgment of 1 April 2014 and remitted the case for a re-trial.
20.  On 11 January 2007 the investigating judge issued a detention order against the applicant in his absence, on the following grounds: (1) the risk of absconding; (2) the risk of obstructing the course of justice by exerting pressure on witnesses and his co-accused; (3) the risk of reoffending; and (4) the gravity of the criminal offences of which he was accused and the sentence that might be imposed on him. The one-month period of detention was to be calculated from the date of the applicant’s arrest. The relevant part of the decision reads as follows:
“After committing the alleged criminal offences [and when preliminary criminal proceedings were initiated] the accused was at large. He was not available to the law-enforcement authorities until recently ... which justifies the fear that if released he would abscond.
A number of witnesses are to be heard in the investigation, including the two co-accused ... this indicates that, if released, the accused would obstruct the course of justice by influencing the witnesses ...
The accused had previously been convicted ... and committed several criminal acts within a short period of time ... the court considers that these facts represent special circumstances which justify the fear that, if released, he would reoffend.
The accused has been charged with criminal offences punishable by imprisonment for more than ten years, and in view of the manner in which the offences were committed and the severity of their consequences, it is justified to order his detention also ... on the basis of the nature of the offences alleged and the severity of the penalty that could be imposed.”
21.  After his extradition to Serbia on 6 July 2007, the applicant was detained pursuant to the above order.
22.  On 6 August and 4 October 2007, respectively, the District Court and the Supreme Court of Serbia (“the Supreme Court”) further extended the applicant’s detention, relying on the same grounds as before. They noted in particular that he had already been in hiding and had been arrested pursuant to an international warrant.
23.  Thereafter, the applicant’s detention was regularly examined and extended every two months by the District Court, the Supreme Court and, following a reform of the domestic judicial system, by the High Court and the Court of Appeal. In addition to those automatic reviews, the applicant repeatedly challenged his detention.
24.  After issuing the indictment (see paragraph 14 above), the courts held that the second ground for detention, the risk of the applicant influencing the witnesses, had ceased to exist. Thus, from 4 January 2008 onwards his detention was extended on the following three grounds: (1) the risk of absconding; (2) the risk of reoffending; and (3) the gravity of the criminal offences of which he was accused and the sentence that might be imposed on him.
25.  On 15 October 2013, although it rejected the applicant’s appeal, the Court of Appeal accepted his argument concerning the third ground for detention and decided that it had ceased to exist. Hence, the applicant’s detention was further extended only on the grounds that he might abscond and reoffend. The court held in particular:
“... for this legal ground [for detention to be satisfied] the cumulative existence of two conditions is necessary: that the criminal offence in question is punishable by a sentence of more than ten years’ imprisonment and [that there are] particularly aggravating circumstances. The conclusion of the first-instance court that the first condition exists is justified. However, this court considers that in the present case the second condition does not exist... [T]he reasons given in the contested order, which had previously justified the accused’s detention on this ground, have now, more than seven years after the alleged offences were committed, ceased to exist ... [I]n the absence of other relevant elements, they do not in themselves justify detention on this ground, because these facts are contained in the factual description of the criminal acts in question and represent the [constituent] elements of those criminal acts.
Therefore, the Court of Appeal holds that the reasons given in the contested order do not justify the extension of detention under Article 142 § 2 (5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure ...”
26.  On 31 October 2014, in a decision by which it quashed the High Court’s judgment of 1 April 2014 and remitted the case for a re-trial (see paragraph 19 above), the Court of Appeal ordered the applicant’s detention on the grounds that he might abscond and reoffend.
27.  On 29 December 2011 the applicant lodged a constitutional appeal, complaining that his pre-trial detention was unlawful and its length had become excessive. He also complained about the length of the criminal proceedings and alleged that his right to be presumed innocent had been violated.
28.  On 26 September 2012 the Constitutional Court rejected the applicant’s appeal. As regards the lawfulness of his detention, the court held that the domestic courts had referred to the specific facts of the case and the applicant’s personal circumstances, and had not used general or abstract arguments to justify his continued detention. There was a reasonable suspicion, from the documents in the file, that the applicant had committed the criminal offences imputed to him. The court held in particular:
“The conclusion [of the lower domestic courts] that the ground for detention provided for by Article 142 § 1(1) [the risk of absconding] of the Code of Criminal Procedure still exists, is justified in view of the fact that ... the accused was arrested in Austria and extradited to Serbia on 6 July 2007... the above circumstances justify the fear that if released he would abscond ...
The conclusion [of the lower domestic courts] that the ground for detention provided for by Article 142 § 1(3) [the risk of reoffending] of the Code of Criminal Procedure still exists is justified in view of the fact that the accused had already been convicted for criminal offences involving physical force [robbery] ... and bearing in mind the nature and number of criminal offences imputed to him [in the present case] which were committed in a short period of time ... [the court considers that] these facts represent special circumstances which justify the fear that, if released, he would reoffend.
The conclusion [of the lower domestic courts] that the ground for detention provided for by Article 142 § 1(5) [the serious nature of the offences with which he had been charged and the severity of the penalty which could be imposed on him if found guilty] of the Code of Criminal Procedure still exists is justified in view of the fact that he had been charged with ... criminal offences punishable by more than ten years’ imprisonment, and in view of the manner in which the offences were committed ... in particular, according to the indictment, the accused had shown singular brutality and determination towards the victim.”
As regards the length of detention, the Constitutional Court concluded that it had been reasonable in view of the complexity of the case: it concerned three co-accused, several criminal offences and complex legal and factual issues.
As regards the complaint about the length of the criminal proceedings, the Constitutional Court noted that the case at issue was a complex one; the case file contained more than one thousand pages and extensive photographic documentation. Furthermore, the court proceedings had had to start anew several times because of changes of presiding judge. Many procedural steps had been taken, numerous witnesses had been heard and a few expert testimonies had been taken.
Lastly, the Constitutional Court rejected the applicant’s complaint concerning the presumption of innocence as unsubstantiated.
29.  The applicant’s subsequent constitutional appeals, containing the same complaints, were rejected on 26 and 27 September, and 10 October 2012 and 20 November 2013 for the same reasons as before.